Single-Event Multinomial Full Kelly via Implicit State Positions

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Long, Christopher D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Long, Christopher D.
author_facet Long, Christopher D.
contents For a single event with finitely many mutually exclusive outcomes, the full Kelly problem is to maximize expected log wealth over nonnegative stakes together with an optional cash position. The optimal formula is classical, but the support-selection step is often presented via Lagrange multipliers. This note gives a shorter state-price derivation. A cash fraction $c$ acts as an implicit position in every outcome: in terminal-wealth terms, it is equivalent to a baseline stake $cq_i$ on outcome $i$, where $q_i$ is the state price. On any active support, explicit bets therefore only top up favorable outcomes from this baseline $cq_i$ to the optimal total stake $p_i$. This yields the formula $x_i = (p_i - c q_i)_+$, the threshold rule $p_i/q_i > c$, and, after sorting outcomes by $p_i/q_i$, a one-pass greedy algorithm for support selection. The result is standard in substance, but the implicit-position viewpoint gives a compact proof and a convenient way to remember the solution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13581
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Single-Event Multinomial Full Kelly via Implicit State Positions
Long, Christopher D.
Optimization and Control
Portfolio Management
91G10 (Primary), 90C25, 91A60 (Secondary)
For a single event with finitely many mutually exclusive outcomes, the full Kelly problem is to maximize expected log wealth over nonnegative stakes together with an optional cash position. The optimal formula is classical, but the support-selection step is often presented via Lagrange multipliers. This note gives a shorter state-price derivation. A cash fraction $c$ acts as an implicit position in every outcome: in terminal-wealth terms, it is equivalent to a baseline stake $cq_i$ on outcome $i$, where $q_i$ is the state price. On any active support, explicit bets therefore only top up favorable outcomes from this baseline $cq_i$ to the optimal total stake $p_i$. This yields the formula $x_i = (p_i - c q_i)_+$, the threshold rule $p_i/q_i > c$, and, after sorting outcomes by $p_i/q_i$, a one-pass greedy algorithm for support selection. The result is standard in substance, but the implicit-position viewpoint gives a compact proof and a convenient way to remember the solution.
title Single-Event Multinomial Full Kelly via Implicit State Positions
topic Optimization and Control
Portfolio Management
91G10 (Primary), 90C25, 91A60 (Secondary)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13581